


Love so sweet

by reveetoile



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Baking, Cooking, M/M, Oral Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 07:34:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12127620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reveetoile/pseuds/reveetoile
Summary: Nino is a cook and Ohno is a baker, they live together and are a couple since a few years now. Nino always supported Ohno with everything Ohno wanted to achieve even if it made him unhappy. Now it’s Ohno’s turn to help Nino find his happiness.





	Love so sweet

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Arashi_Exchange 2017. My recipient was the lovely fishydotlove :D  
> Be aware of many fluffy moments between Ohmiya. I wanted them to argue but they didn’t really agree with me.  
> In this story, I used the term Kaiseki once because I didn’t find a proper English term. I think I explained it in the story but here is the explanation again: It is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner that is analogs to haute cuisine. It is small servings and 14 courses in a certain order.

"Good morning," Nino woke Ohno up with a kiss and he grumbled a bit. But then Ohno looked up and frowned when he saw Nino's sleep deprived face. 

"Good morning," he said and checked the clock. He groaned when he realised that it was almost 4 am after all. His alarm would ring in five to ten minutes. He rubbed his face and Nino smiled lovingly. 

"Get up, I'm preparing coffee, and we can eat a bit before you have to go," Nino added and Ohno nodded. He climbed out of bed and then left to the bathroom. Nino made them a little breakfast with miso soup and salted salmon and waited with a cup of warm herbal tea in his hands for Ohno to join him. 

Ohno stumbled into the kitchen and almost missed his seat and snatched the cup of coffee that was beside his bowls like it was a life line. It took a few sips and minutes until Ohno was awake enough to look at Nino. Nino had a frown on his face and looked dead tired. 

"Rough shift?" Ohno asked and Nino hummed. 

"We're getting a new head chef," he mumbled and rubbed his forehead. "Looks like the boss thinks Daichi-kun is the best candidate." Ohno winced and took his hand in his own. 

He kissed the knuckles lovingly until Nino giggled a little and swatted at his head. "Eat, you big sap. I will survive."

"Kazu, we talked about it. You could…"

Nino shook his head and sighed. "No, I can't. I'm not good enough for my own restaurant and we need the money. Two business loans are too much for our finances," Nino responded and Ohno frowned deeply. 

He knew that Nino's words were logical. But that didn't mean he had to like it. Jun and he were good with the bakery/café they owned. They haven't paid off all of the loans, yet, but they had only a two more installments to pay. 

"But you are unhappy."

Nino shrugged and stirred his soup a bit listlessly. He finished his tea and kissed the top of Ohno's head after he stood up. "I will head for bed. Tonight will be a soba salad. So make sure to eat it," he said and Ohno tugged him down to kiss him softly on the lips. He wanted to make sure that Nino got his dream fulfilled as well, somehow. Nino was already so unhappy as it was now and Ohno knew that Nino and that Daichi-kun didn't get along well. Mostly because Nino had to do all the work and Daichi would get the praise.

\--

Nino was awoken by the sound of the doorbell and groaned loudly. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock to realise that he had almost slept for ten hours now and he had to leave in three more hours for work. Luckily he only had to arrive in the restaurant around six pm today since others were scheduled to do the preparations.

The doorbell rang again and he sighed before forcing himself up. It couldn't be a delivery since they generally sent everything to Ohno's workplace. It was open until late afternoon and somebody was always there to receive a package. He ran a hand through his hair and then went to open the door, only to be greeted by the bright smile of Aiba.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working?" Nino mumbled and let the older man step in. "I have to talk with Oh-chan about your salary," he added and Aiba hit him lightly on the shoulder. 

"I am working, for your information. It's a special delivery," Aiba added and shook a paper bag in his hand. Nino blinked at it and needed an embarrassingly long time to recognise the logo of Ohno's shop. And that despite Ohno drawing so many designs for this logo that Nino had found the little scraps of papers months after the opening. 

In the end, Ohno had decided on a drawing of an animated dog that reminded Nino of the dog his family owned when he was small, with little swirls around it in black and yellow. Nino didn't know in what way people should recognise it as a logo for a bakery with a confectionery inside, but Ohno liked it, and that was all that was important in the end.

"What's in it?" Nino asked and led Aiba further into the apartment. He didn't care about the mess in their living room. Neither Ohno nor Nino had the time or motivation for a clean up right now. Nino was always so tired between work hours and Ohno was easily distracted and never realised how dirty everything got until it was too much. Luckily, their friends had already gotten used to it.

"Breakfast for you, Oh-chan said. And a slice of cheesecake from Matsujun. He made a mix of matcha and white chocolate with a berry sauce on top. He wants to know how you like it. He thinks of adding it to the menu," Aiba explained. With a flick of his finger, he brought the coffee machine to life. "Get ready I will prepare everything," Aiba added and Nino smiled thankfully. He probably wouldn't have eaten if Aiba wasn't here to force him to. 

When he came back he sighed happily when he saw the table set with a coffee with a dash of cream - just as he liked it - and a freshly baked melon pan on a plate. The melon pan was still a little bit warm and smelled heavenly. 

Just… "Please don't tell me Oh-chan baked a whole batch of heart-shaped melon pan?" Nino asked and Aiba giggled. 

"No, but he's seriously contemplating doing that for the next Valentine's Day. Would be fun, don't you think?" Aiba asked and Nino rolled his eyes. Just like his lover… He bit into the fluffy baked good and moaned a bit. 

"It's delicious," he praised and Aiba laughed brightly. 

"I'll tell him. But you know that his melon pans are always perfect," Aiba said and rolled his eyes. Ohno tried very hard to make the perfect bread that Nino would always be happy to eat. And he managed the perfect milk buns and melon pans which Nino even ate when he was not hungry at all. 

"Oh-chan won't be back before I have to go to work?" Nino asked curiously and Aiba shook his head. 

"He said he wouldn't make it," Aiba mumbled and sent him an apologetic look. "He has to prepare a cake for a wedding tomorrow. So it will be late. MatsuJun will make sure it won't be too late. He wanted to plan the anniversary celebration after the shop closes," he explained and Nino choked on a laugh. 

"What? It's in two months. He wants to start now?" he asked. 

Aiba shook his head. "He started one and a half months ago already," he said, making Nino giggle into his coffee. 

"I see. I'll have to make sure that I'm free on that day, huh?" Nino mumbled to himself and rubbed his forehead. He hoped his boss wouldn't make it impossible and would for once give him the free day he asked for and not a different one.

"You should. It will be great, I think. MatsuJun's totally going overboard, but it will be fun!" Nino had with agree with that sentiment. If Jun was the one responsible for it, then it would be great. (Also, Nino noted down mentally, he should make sure that Ohno remembered their anniversary.)

xx

Ohno met Nino when their sisters went on a playdate. The girls had met in kindergarten and became friends almost instantly. Of course, their mothers were happy with that since they had been neighbours ever since the Ninomiya's moved in next door a few years prior. 

"Hello, Satoshi," Nino-Mama greeted him. Satoshi grinned up at the woman. He liked her very much since she always made them treats that were even better than the ones his mother made. 

"Hello," he answered politely and then ran after his big sister who had already left for the garden to play with Kazumi. Ohno pouted when his sister told him that he wasn't allowed to play with them today, since they wanted to do a jumping game that he couldn't compete with, yet. He trotted back to his mother and climbed up into her lap. 

"Kaa-chan, it's boring," he grumbled and the woman only laughed. He got some pencils and paper soon afterwards, though, and sat beside the women who talked about things that Satoshi neither understood nor was interested in. But colouring stuff was good!

The silence was abruptly interrupted by a loud cry and Satoshi looked around confusedly. 

"Oh," Nino-Mama mumbled and stood up. "I'm sorry. I will be back soon," she promised. His mother waved her off and just told her to take as long as she needed. Satoshi finally found the little device where the crying came from. He frowned in confusion when Nino-Mama's voice could be heard from it and then babbling as well as cooing. 

Now entirely curious he looked up when the woman came back with a baby in her arms. 

"Kaa-chan, baby!" Satoshi cried happily and clapped his hands in awe at the little wriggling fingers and feet. So small and so cute!

"Satoshi, this is Kazunari," Nino-Mama said, amused at his happy and curious face, and sat down beside them again. Ohno peeked into the little face with a tiny mouth which opened and closed around a bottle and was sucking eagerly. 

Satoshi stood up to peer into his face more clearly and then carefully took the tiny hand into his. An excited cry left his lips when the small fingers curled around two of his, and he shook them carefully. 

"Hello Kazu, I'm Satoshi," he introduced himself and giggled when Kazu babbled something to him. He hoped they would become good friends just like his sister with Kazumi. Shortly after, Kazu was put into a basket beside the table while Nino-Mama went inside and brought a watermelon bread out for them to eat. Satoshi's eyes sparkled happily when he saw the brightly coloured baked good.

xx

Ohno came home to the heavenly smell of curry roux and hurriedly took off his boots and the thick coat he wore against the cold outside. The scarf that had been around his neck this morning laid forgotten in the changing room at work and Ohno winced a bit when he imagined the threatening look on Nino's face when he discovered he had forgotten something again. 

"I'm home," he called out and even if he wanted to greet Nino first he knew that he wasn't allowed into the kitchen when the other was cooking without washing his hands first. And Nino's wrath wasn't worth avoiding the two minutes detour to the bathroom took. 

He washed his hands and splashed his face with the warm water, humming under his breath as that helped to warm him up. This was nice, Ohno decided and then finally went to the kitchen. 

As he had thought, Nino was still busy preparing their dinner. Ohno looked as Nino was busy cutting the onions into thin slices and waited until Nino put the knife down before entering the kitchen fully and kissing the neck of his lover. 

"Welcome home," Nino hummed and leant back against him. Ohno put his arms around Nino's waist and played a bit with the bow of his apron. 

"What's for dinner?" 

"Curry Udon. I discovered a new recipe for the roux and last time I was not entirely happy with how it tasted, so I tried to make some improvements. Also, I wanted to try pink Udon noodles," Nino explained. Ohno laughed a little as he put his chin on his shoulder and looked while Nino cut the carrots into thin slices as well. He loved watching Nino cooking. Nino was always so concentrated on the task at hand, and Ohno liked that look in his eyes very much. When Nino finished with the carrots and wriggled around a bit, he let him go with a kiss to his jaw and then sat down on a high stool at the kitchen counter. 

"How was work?" Nino asked and Ohno shrugged in answer. Nino frowned a little and poked him in the side with the blunt side of his knife before disposing it to the dish water and taking out some beef from the freezer to cut into thin slices. The frown smoothed out as he concentrated again and Ohno tried not to giggle. Nino was so easy to distract when he was cooking. 

Apparently, he let out a little sound as Nino looked up shortly after. "Don't think I am not listening. Something had to happen while I was all bored at home."

Ohno snorted a little at that. He didn't think Nino was bored between browsing for new recipes and playing his games. He ruffled his hair and tried to remember anything interesting happening today. 

"I burned a whole batch of melon pan today," he answered in the end and Nino's shoulders shook in silent mirth. 

"How so? Don't you have a timer?" he asked and Ohno nodded with a sigh. 

"Yes, but I forgot to set it. And during the lunch rush, we were all out to help to serve the customers. Jun wouldn't let me hide in the back at all." 

Nino put the knife down for a short moment and hid his face in his elbow while he laughed out loud now. He did feel sorry for Ohno, but he knew that Ohno was happy in general, so he was allowed to laugh at his misery sometimes. Nin looked at Ohno when he had calmed down and even if the older still pouted gloriously there was a loving warmth in his eyes that almost made Nino blush. 

Nino turned around to hide his red cheeks, but he could hear Ohno's chuckle clearly and cursed his ears for always getting red, even when he managed to keep his face neutral. 

"You could look for the bowls for the udon and cook some tea," Nino mumbled and heated the pan with oil to saute the onions before putting the beef and carrots inside and preparing their meal. The Udon noodles were in the fridge, and Ohno brought them over when he took out two cans of beer instead. Grinning when he found a prepared salad as well, he set the table and sat down again, opening his beer and taking a gulp while watching Nino finishing their udon. 

The curry smelled delicious, and he couldn't wait to taste it at all. So he was more than happy when a full bowl was set before him and thanked him for the food when Nino sat across from him to begin eating. 

"Mhmm… tasty!" Ohno almost moaned in complete happiness as the flavours hit him fully. It tasted excellent. Nino had been looking at him nervously and now grinned in relief at his words. Ohno almost never had eaten anything that was disgusting if Nino made it, but he knew that Nino was always nervous when trying out new things. 

A few minutes later Nino tried his first bite and hummed approvingly. His eyes sparkled happily, and Ohno knew that Nino finally got the taste he had been chasing for the last few weeks after he first tried this new curry roux.

Ohno continued eating and finally caught one of Nino's feet between his. Nino looked up. 

"It tastes like the curry my grandmother used to make for us, do you remember?" he asked.

Nino hummed. "Of course I do!" he promised, and Ohno bowed his head to hide his face a little. 

xx

Little Kazu toddled behind Satoshi and held onto his shirt the moment Satoshi was at reach. He cried out happily as his fingers clamped around the hem of the bigger boy's shirt and yanked as hard as he could. 

Satoshi giggled a bit as Kazu's grip made him stop and sway only a little bit before carefully reaching for the boy to bring him to his side and the front. "Hello there Kazu," he greeted and was gifted with a bright smile. 

Kazu gripped at his hands and swayed a bit. He wasn't that safe on his two feet yet and landed more often than not on his behind. 

"To-nii!" he greeted happily, moving their hands up and down. 

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your group?" Satoshi chided softly and knelt down when the little face screwed up ready to cry. 

"Doesn't To-nii like Kazu here?" he asked sadly. 

Satoshi shook his head. "I do. But I think the teachers are worried if you aren't with them, ne?" he answered and helped him up. 

Satoshi felt a little bad. Ever since Kazu joined their kindergarten, the smaller boy was often close to him. In the first weeks, Kazu often scared the teachers because they didn't find him. Now they knew that he would look for his ‘To-nii'. But in a few weeks now Satoshi would leave kindergarten and start school, so they tried to break that habit slowly. 

"Come on, I'll bring you back. It's nap-time," he explained and helped Kazu through the floors.

"Nu-hu," Kazu denied with a head shake. "Eating-time before sleep. Me is not hungry," he complained, but Satoshi giggled a bit when Kazu's stomach grumbled.

"Not even a bit? Your tummy seems to think otherwise," he said with a smile when Kazu rubbed his belly. He entered the room of Kazu's group and was greeted by the teachers. He helped Kazu up to his chair and looked at the meal set in front of Kazu. It was broccoli which Kazu hated with a passion (if not hidden inside omuraisu or monjayaki made by his mother) so he was not surprised that Kazu had walked off as soon as he saw that. 

"Looks good," Satoshi said. 

Kazu frowned. "Don't like it. It tastes bad," he said glaring at the affronted plate, and Satoshi chuckled. He ruffled his hair and winked at him. 

"You should eat. Your tummy is all empty, so how will we be able to play after nap time?" Satoshi asked with a sad frown and Kazu's eyes widened. 

"I can play with To-nii without eating," he said. 

Satoshi shook his head. "Nu-hu, can't do," he explained with a frown. "Kazu's little tummy is too distracting when it's so loudly complaining." He tickled said stomach softly until Kazu lost his frown and laughed. 

Kazu finally took the spoon and put the first bit of rice with broccoli into his mouth. Satoshi ruffled his hair and smiled. "If you finish that up we can share the afternoon treats, ne? We get milk buns and you'll get strawberries," he promised. Kazu's eyes shone brightly at that promise and he hurried to finish his meal and then kissed Satoshi's cheek to wish him a good night. 

xx

"I hate them," Nino grumbled that afternoon and Ohno lifted an eyebrow. It was his free day at the bakery and Nino for once got up early to spend a little time with Ohno. 

"Who?"

"Everybody." 

Ohno chuckled and put his magazine down. He sidled up to Nino who had stopped his game and flopped back against his lover. "No, you don't," he said and rubbed his back warmly. He frowned at the tight knots he could feel while doing so and worked a hand under Nino's shirt to massage him at least a little. 

Nino groaned in happiness and with a little push from Ohno he pulled off his shirt and laid on his front. He put his face on a small pillow he could embrace and closed his eyes when Ohno massaged the little knots out from his back. 

"I swear your bad posture will make you ill," Ohno grumbled and Nino chuckled a bit.

"It's from all the bending over while cooking." Nino glanced at Ohno, who had a cute frown on his face, and hid his face into the cushion again. "You would be the same if it weren't for J who makes sure that you are in the front sometimes as well."

Ohno hummed in agreement to that and continued with his ministrations until he felt Nino relaxing under him completely. Ohno kissed him between the shoulder blades where Nino was ticklish and licked the spot contentedly when Nino giggled and then turned around before swatting at Ohno's head. 

Ohno put his chin on Nino's breast bone and took one of his hands in his own. Softly he caressed the inside of his other arm and observed him. 

"What happened that you hate everybody?"

"Aiko took the wrong order, or not the wrong order but she forgot to write down what we should let out and I got yelled at because of it. Afterwards, three people were unhappy because the damn ratatouille had tomatoes in it. Can you believe that?" Ohno rubbed his nose on Nino's shoulder and bit softly into his right nipple with a grin when Nino wriggled under him. 

"Idiots," he replied then and smiled triumphantly when Nino snickered at that. He kissed the abused nipple softly and hid his face when Nino hit his head softly again. 

"I have to leave in an hour."

"So? Enough time for a quickie," Ohno mumbled and wriggled on top of him. He could feel Nino's slight erection poking his thigh at their movements and those words. "And at least some parts of your body seem to agree with me."

He kissed the nipple again and sucked at it hard when Nino let out a whiny moan and then got up to kiss Nino's lips. "Say yes?" Ohno's hand wandered over Nino's upper body, caressing all the parts he knew were sensitive to him and then popped the first two buttons of Nino's jeans open. He had already moved to the spot behind Nino's ear and was kissing and licking it softly. When he nibbled on Nino's earlobe and a finger found his way under his waistband Nino gasped a little. 

"Yes, please."

Ohno wandered kissing back to his lips and kissed Nino softly. Nino's hands roamed over his back and under the jumper he wore to push it up until it was stopped by his armpits. Nino nibbled softly at his lower lip and broke the kiss to touch their noses together. Then he pushed Ohno away a bit to pull the jumper fully over his head. One hand wandered down his back and then cupped his butt. He really loved Ohno's butt. It felt perfect in his hands. 

The other hand smoothed down the hair and pulled Ohno's head closer again to close the distance between them. His tongue swept over Ohno's lip and he closed his mouth over the lower lip to suck it a bit, before kissing Ohno deeply.

Ohno's hands wandered over Nino's side in a soft caress and under the waistband of his boxer shorts. He tugged at his pants and Nino lifted his hips helpfully so that Ohno could get rid of both garments. Nino used the kiss to open Ohno's fly and squeeze at the bulge in the tight boxers. Ohno groaned into his mouth and moved his hips down against Nino's teasing fingers before the touch wasn't enough anymore and he moved away from Nino to take them off. 

Nino licked his lips when he saw the erection Ohno was sporting and his fingers soon found it again. He traced the veins he could feel under the tight skin and poked at the head once before carefully rubbing the tip and then moving his hand down the whole length. 

Ohno held still above him to give Nino enough room for his curious ministrations before moaning when Nino cupped his balls before tugging at them softly. "You got even harder," Nino observed when he wandered up again. With a growl, Ohno closed his mouth over Nino's again before he could say any more things. 

The kisses they shared now were more heated and full of tongue and even a few teeth here and there. Ohno was moving his hips against Nino's who thrust up in time with Ohno's movements. 

Ohno rolled his hips slowly and Nino had finally to break the kiss to gasp for air. Ohno's lips didn't leave him for long as soon they were connected to his collarbone sucking and nibbling at his skin. 

Ohno's fingers caressed his lips and pulled his lower lip carefully down until Nino got the hint and opened his mouth and played with the finger in his mouth while making sure it was wet. The hand wandered to his behind and traced his entrance a few times before sliding in slowly. It burned a little since Ohno didn't use any actual lubrication and spit alone was a little bit painful. But the pain slowly disappeared as Ohno continued to move the finger only a bit at a time and always waited until Nino was fully relaxed. 

His finger slowly probed deeper until it pushed against the little spot inside of him and Nino thrust against him as he moaned loudly. Ohno hid his grin against Nino's collarbone and moved his hips a bit harder against Nino. He wouldn't enter him with any more than that. Not without any lube and so shortly before Nino had to go to work. Nino's hands closed around their erections and Ohno gasped a little before kissing Nino's earlobe and nibbling at it with his teeth. 

"I love you," he whispered when Nino shuddered in his arms and came with a silent cry. Ohno carefully pulled his finger out of Nino and continued to thrust against his hip, before he came as well, coating Nino's glistening skin with his come.

"I love you, too," Nino mumbled sleepily and Ohno nuzzled his hair a bit before pushing off from Nino and coercing him into the bathroom for a quick shower. 

"I will make steamed buns, filled with cheese or matcha, tonight." 

Nino blinked up confusedly at him and Ohno stroke his cheek lovingly. 

"For tomorrow when you are back. Eat them before coming to bed, promise," Ohno added and Nino mumbled an agreement as he closed his eyes while he cuddled up to Ohno and let him clean them both. 

xx

Kazu wasn't at preschool today. As Satoshi was normally the one who picked him up with his mother, he ran to the house of the Ninomiya's the moment he arrived home. His mother shook her head at his antics but let him be. She and Kazuko were used to the antics of their boys after all. 

"Kaa-san, what's wrong with Kazu?" Satoshi asked when the woman opened the door and the woman sighed when Satoshi didn't even remember to greet her. 

"He caught a fever and I decided to keep him home today. Were you worried, Satoshi?" she asked and let the boy in. 

"Yes, when Kaa-chan said we didn't have to pick him up I got worried," he mumbled and looked around. "May I go to him?"

"Yes. He already asked for his To-nii." She grinned in amusement when Satoshi took off his shoes hurriedly and then almost fell in his hurry to run up to Kazu's room. She rolled her eyes once more and went back to the kitchen to finish the rice porridge with different kinds of herbs for her son. She was glad that she had already made a big portion so that Satoshi would be able to eat something as well. 

When she was about to enter the room of her son she could hear Satoshi telling him a story from a children's book. She stood still for a few moments just listening as the boy stumbled over the unknown words and was surprised as to how peacefully Kazu was listening to him. If it was Kazumi who was struggling with the reading, Kazu usually got bored and demanded to listen to an audio book or for his parents to read to him. 

She opened the door fully and found the boys sitting in Kazu's bed with the book on Satoshi's lap. It was an adorable sight, she thought when she put down the tray carefully. "Eat up, okay?"

Kazu nodded with distaste since he wasn't hungry at all when he was ill, but took a spoon when Satoshi explained to him patiently that he had to eat a lot and sleep a lot to get healthy fast so that they could play outside again. Kazu, luckily, listened to the older one and began eating without complaint for the first time since this morning. Kazuko decided to keep Satoshi here for a bit. Kazu wasn't as needy and whiny in his company.

xx

"Hello, what can I do…? Ah, Nino!" Aiba yelled loudly when he recognised Nino and Nino flinched a bit. It was too early for that loud voice. He rubbed his ear and frowned. 

Jun came to the front to see what the commotion was about and hit Aiba on the head when he realised that nothing happened. 

"You are scaring the customers," he chided. 

Aiba rubbed his head. "I'm sure they are more scared of you." 

Nino chuckled a little and pointed at the door with ‘no customers' printed on. 

"Is Oh-chan inside?" he asked and both men nodded. 

"Take two coffees with you," Aiba mumbled and Nino waited while Aiba made his special coffee. Aiba was a genius when it came to hot and cold drinks. He always managed to make exactly the things one liked or needed to feel better. 

"Thank you. I'm off then." 

On his way to the back, he greeted two long time customers of the shop and entered the baking area where Ohno mostly hid during his shifts. Right now he was concentrated on kneading the dough for a sour bread and Nino let the door fall closed behind him softly. The almost silent click got Ohno's attention and he looked up. Nino smiled when he saw that there was a streak of flour on Ohno's cheek and ventured inside. 

"Finish first." Nino gestured to the dough and Ohno was soon again absorbed in doing whatever he had to do to make bread. Nino had never been interested in baking and making bread, so he had almost no knowledge of it. That was Ohno's speciality. 

After the bread was put into a heating panel to help it rise, Nino lifted Ohno's cup of coffee. Aiba had made them chocolate mochas, and they tasted delicious. Nino was not sure if he should actually give Ohno the second cup or keep it for himself. 

Ohno seemed to realise his hesitation and came up to him a bit faster than he normally would. They shared a kiss while Ohno snatched his cup and sat beside him taking a sip. "It's good."

"Yup. Aiba is great at making those things." Nino grinned when Ohno looked at him happily as if he had praised Ohno himself. Nino leaned down to kiss the clean cheek. 

They stayed silent for a while until Nino poked Ohno in the side and put his now empty cup behind them on the counter and observed Ohno until the older man squirmed. "Why did you ask me to come here?"

"Because you are free today and we can spend time together?" Ohno tried and hid his face from the other. Nino frowned and took hold of his chin to force Ohno to look into his eyes. 

"That's not true." Ohno grimaced and swore silently. He hated it when Nino could look through him right away. 

"You won't like it probably."

"Try me, Oh-chan. You know I'll support you in any way I can."

"It's not for me. I want to support you and your dreams as well. So that you can be happy, Kazu," Ohno said earnestly and Nino started. Ohno only called him Kazu when he was serious or especially sappy. Somehow he didn't think it was the latter today. 

"I don't understand. I am happy as it is now." Ohno sighed and shook his head while looking straight into his eyes. 

"You are not. Be honest, Kazu. How happy are you in your workplace right now? Your hours are horrible, your colleagues are even worse, and you hate French cuisine. Okay, hate is not the right term but you don't like it. You always wanted to make traditional homey food."

Now it was Nino who averted his eyes and Ohno who forced him to look at him. "I know someone who wants to invest in a restaurant," Ohno continued carefully and took his hand. "You don't have to do it and I know that you are scared of trying to change what you have now. Mostly because you think we need that money if this shop somehow goes down."

"It makes the most sense, Oh-chan." 

Ohno nodded and kissed his palm softly. "I know. But doing the smart thing, the logical thing, is not us, Nino. We waited for those five years until the loan was paid up. It is. Next week is our anniversary and we are still going strong, stronger each day. Think about what you really want. Not about what's safe or logical, okay? And then I will introduce you to my friend. He is a food critic so don't think he will make it easy for you if you want to take that challenge."

Nino smiled carefully at those last words. Ohno knew what to add to wake up his competitive streak. Of course, he would be happy to show some food critic what he could do and that he was good enough to be the head chef and lead a kitchen crew. But he was used to being careful since he began in the restaurant he worked at now. The last years had been hard and he had always been scared to lose his job and not to be able to help Ohno and MatsuJun when something happened. 

"I will think about it," he promised in the end and Ohno kissed him softly again. Nino loved that Ohno seemed never to be able not to kiss him. As he loved getting those kisses he couldn't be more thankful. 

"That's good enough for me. Come on, I want one more of these coffees and you can have some bread I already finished."

xx

Satoshi found Kazu in their hide-out in a tree near their house. They were often wandering around their houses and during one discovery tour found the tree house at the edge of the forest. They weren't allowed inside the house alone but both decided that they were allowed to be in that tree. 

They had sworn never to tell anybody about it. For now, Satoshi was glad that he had been able to find Kazu as their families had gone crazy when the small boy had run away. 

Satoshi followed the sniffs he could hear coming from high up and climbed up the tree until he could squeeze himself through the window. Kazu had rolled up the ladder they had made after all. But Satoshi wasn't one for giving up. 

Kazu was hidden in the furthest corner away from the entry and huddled close to himself. Satoshi made his way to him and hugged him carefully. Kazu started a bit but in the end, he hid inside the warm embrace. 

"I hate him," he cried against his shirt and Satoshi shook his head. 

"You don't. You are upset," he explained and Kazu shook his head furiously. 

"Am not."

"Are too." 

Kazu kept silent for a moment and then looked up at him with red eyes. "But he doesn't love me anymore."

"Of course he does."

"But he is leaving! He is leaving me and Mi-nee and mom. He doesn't love us anymore," he said in a tiny voice and it broke Satoshi's heart. He didn't really understand what was going on. He had tried to ask his mother but she had only told him that nobody was at fault here. And Kazu's father was so worried about him that Satoshi couldn't believe that he hated Kazu. Of course, Kazu didn't understand either. He only knew that his father would leave them and that he wouldn't be able to see him often anymore, only on some weekends when his father was free. 

"But that doesn't mean that he doesn't love you," Satoshi tried to explain. "He is so worried right now, as are your mom and your sister. My mother and sister are worried, as well, as will be my father when he gets home and we aren't back by then."

"I don't want to go back. If I go back, he leaves," Kazu whined stubbornly. 

Satoshi sighed. He didn't want to make anybody more upset. "Come, let's go home. Kaa-chan prepared dorayaki for us earlier. They are still warm," he tried to convince him. "We can hide there for the moment, alright? But here it's too cold to stay here for long."

Especially for Kazu, since he was only wearing a thin shirt, trousers and his inside shoes. He had run away without taking any proper clothes for autumn walks. Kazu was shivering a little when Satoshi reminded him of the temperature and nodded shyly. 

"You won't tell mom or dad where I am?"

"I won't, promise." 

Kazu nodded when Satoshi intertwined their pinkie fingers for good measure and let Satoshi help him down from the tree. 

At home, they got the sweets from Ohno's mother and huddled together under the kotatsu. Kazu was still depressed while he nibbled on it but with his mother's help, Satoshi was able to convince Kazu to go back home where his parents awaited him. 

xx

Nino was tired, so tired. He couldn't stop thinking about Ohno's words and therefore he couldn't sleep when he was home alone. And he was home alone often. He and Ohno mostly saw each other in the morning when Nino arrived from and Ohno got ready for work. 

Both were too tired to talk much during that time, and they just shared a cup of tea or coffee before Ohno headed out and Nino went to bed. Also, Ohno had been doing overtime the last few days, so he wasn't even back home before Nino had to leave. Nino would more than happy when this damn anniversary was over. And he wanted to kill MatsuJun for keeping Ohno at the shop for that long. He also wasn't allowed there for the time being because MatsuJun was sure that he would distract Ohno and Ohno wanted the festival to be a surprise for his lover. 

It was as much a thank you for Nino as it was for their regular customers in the end. Nino respected that, even if he thought that it was silly, but he was too happy that he got the day free after a bit of arguing, and didn't really care that he had to wait until then to see what they had planned. 

A free day luckily meant two consecutive nights free and Nino sat down with his laptop in the kitchen to browse a few recipes. He still thought about Ohno's offer to introduce him to his friend and it was hard. It was hard to think of the smart thing to do - to be happy with what he had now - and not strive for more. But Ohno promised him that it was okay to think of himself and not of security. 

He groaned and hid his face behind his arms which laid on top of his keyboard. At moments like this, he wished that he could talk to his mother. But she had died a few years ago and couldn't help. His sister always said that he was too careful now, not as daring as he should be. Ohno's mother, who was just like a second mother to him, would say the same things Ohno did. 

He rubbed his face with a groan and stood up. He needed to do something or he would go crazy. He checked the clock and decided to make some comfort soup. At least wonton soup made him always happy. It reminded him of cold autumn days under the kotatsu arguing with his sister over who got the last wonton and then giving it over to Ohno because his pout was too adorable when he didn't dare to ask for it himself.

He just hoped they had everything for that in their shelves and that he would be able to make them as delicious as his mother did when he was young. 

\--

"Smells good," he heard Ohno saying from the door shortly after he put the wontons into the soup stock. 

"Oh, you are back already?" Nino was still distracted by the boiling wontons since he didn't want them to overcook. Ohno hummed and brought him two bowls for the soup. He put soja sauce and chilli sauce as well as the freshly chopped herbs to the table and sat down. 

"Yes, early closing tonight. Jun-kun wanted us all to be up bright and early tomorrow."

Nino snorted a little as it was MatsuJun who was the worst with early mornings. So it was really ironic for him to say that. He put the bowls of soup on the table and sat down on his seat after getting the prepared tea as well. "So... an early night?"

"Sounds like it. But we could take a bath together?" Ohno asked hopefully and Nino chuckled. 

"Sure. Sounds nice and relaxing."

"And fun!" 

Nino laughed and nodded then in agreement. They could add a bit fun into bathing time as well. 

"But I won't wake up with you," he said and pointed at Ohno when he looked at him pleadingly. "No way in hell. The shop doesn't open before ten tomorrow. I won't sit around almost five hours and die of boredom."

"I don't have to be there that early. We don't have the usual bread or rolls for sale tomorrow, only treats. They don't need that long to finish. I will head there around seven."

Nino looked at him thoughtfully and then shrugged. "If I'm not forced to help I'll come and bring my DS to pass the time." 

Ohno beamed at him. Nino rolled his eyes before gesturing to the soup. "Eat before it gets cold," he ordered and tugged in himself.

xx

"Toshi, wait!" Kazu yelled as he ran over the school yard. He came to a stop right in front of him and grinned up at him while breathing heavily. 

"Eh? What's wrong Kaz? You know that I'm only going home, right?" Satoshi asked amusedly and waved at Aiba - a classmate of Kazu's - who leant against the wall clad in baseball attire. Satoshi realised that Kazu wore his uniform already as well.

"I wanted to be the first to congratulate you for finishing school," Kazu said loudly and Satoshi began to laugh at those words. Kazu was too cute for his own good sometimes.

"The ceremony is tomorrow. So I'm not yet graduated. Also, I'm just going to junior high now. So I have not finished school yet."

Kazu pouted at those words and crossed his arms in front of his body as he had watched his sister doing whenever she was unhappy and wanted to get her point across. Kazu had already learnt not to argue with her when she used this stance. 

"But it will be the last time we are in a school together. When I enter junior high you graduate already," he explained.

"Ah, true," Satoshi said thoughtfully and ruffled Kazu's hair. "But we will still be neighbours. So don't worry," he added.

"I'm not worried," Kazu denied. 

Satoshi grinned. Of course not, he thought and gestured to Aiba. "Your training will start soon. We will celebrate tomorrow. Kaa-chan makes a chocolate cake and I think Kaa-san makes curry for us," Ohno says happily. 

Kazu rolled his eyes. "I know. Mom already made the curry roux to use tomorrow. The whole house smells like curry and it's your fault." He frowned deeply and Ohno chuckled. 

"I love the cooking of Kaa-san." Kazu shoved him a little and tugged at his uniform. Ohno laughed and ruffled his hair again. Kazu grumbled and left when Aiba shouted for him to get ready before their trainer got angry and Satoshi watched him running away with a sad smile. He would miss seeing Kazu as often.

\--

Satoshi held onto his certificate more proudly than he had thought possible yesterday. Kazu had been right when he said it was kind of important. Kazu and his mother sat beside his own mother during the ceremony and now Kazu was running to him to hug him tightly. 

"Congratulations!" he yelled loudly. Satoshi winced a bit at that and then loosened the embrace for their mothers to come over and congratulate Satoshi as well. His mother waved with her camera and grinned. 

"I want a picture of my freshly graduated son," she said and Kazu hopped away a little so that he wasn't in the frame. After the first two pictures, his mother allowed him to be in a picture as well and they hugged, looking with bright grins into the lens until they left for Kazu's home to get lunch and play in the garden. 

Kazu was surprised that night when he found a button of a school uniform on his desk and looked over his worriedly if he was missing a button. When he didn't find any holes, he put the button carefully into a box and soon forget about it.

xx

The event was a complete success as far as Nino could tell. At least MatsuJun had relaxed a lot after the first speech he and Ohno had held and the cries of delight of the visitors when the first free treats were passed around. Nino was sure that they would get some new regular customers after today and that made him happy, of course. 

Ohno probably was right. They didn't have any difficulties to get customers here. Aiba was bright and friendly to everyone, MatsuJun was polite and smiled a lot at the visitors, and his sleepy boyfriend was just adorable. Nino could hear some girls in their teens talk about how beautiful they looked and that it made the cakes even better. Nino chuckled but concentrated back on his game as he nibbled on a banana muffin Aiba had brought over to him with delicious iced coffee a few minutes earlier. Special treatment for the lover of the owner, Aiba had declared and had fled before Nino could kick him for making him blush. 

All in all, he really liked just sitting here in the corner of the café and listening to the excited talk all around him. Whenever he looked up, he could see Ohno smile at him lovingly and happily and it took a lot of willpower not to snatch Ohno away and kiss him senseless each time. But there was MatsuJun's wrath to endure if he dared to do that, so his willpower got a power-up - so to speak. 

Nino would never dare to cross MatsuJun on a day like this. 

\--

"Sorry? May I sit here?" a man asked and Nino blinked as he looked up. He looked around and realised that all of the other tables were full at the moment and nodded while making some space on the table. 

"Of course."

Nino concentrated back on his game as the other sat down and ignored the other man who had a few different kinds of sweets in front of him and only looked up when Aiba brought both of them new iced coffee.

"Thanks, Aiba-chan," Nino mumbled and held onto his hand before the other could run away again. "Can you get me some of the earl grey chiffon cake?" he asked, taking a sip of the coffee. The banana muffin was a tad too sweet for him.

"Of course. Oh-chan will bring it over," Aiba promised and Nino smiled happily. If Ohno would bring it, it meant that Jun allowed the older a break. 

"Thanks."

\--

"I see you already met Sho-kun?" Ohno said when he sat down and kissed Nino's cheek in greeting. 

"Huh?" Nino mumbled while the man nodded at Ohno in greeting. Nino blinked when he realised that this was the man Ohno wanted to meet him. He fought his blush and took a piece of his new cake. Ohno took the muffin and Sho finished his Tarte au Chocolat a few seconds later. 

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sakurai Sho. You are Ninomiya-san? Satoshi-kun already told me a lot of you."

"Nice to meet you too. Please call me Nino, it's shorter and everyone else uses that nickname." 

Sho smiled and nodded. Nino drank his coffee and felt slight nervousness creeping up on him.

"Satoshi-kun told me you are a chef and said you are good? I want to open my own restaurant. It's a kind of dream for me to own a restaurant. But I am the worst cook ever. I'm good with finances, though. So I have a bit of money to invest and found a suitable place," Sho rambled and Nino giggled a little. He liked how excited the man sounded right now even if nervous. 

"I am. I work for "Le Petit" at the moment."

"Eh? But…" Sho looked at Ohno who chuckled silently. 

"But he is an expert in Japanese cooking. As I told you. He doesn't like fancy cooking but it's the job he got. Don't worry."

Sho looked relieved and Nino snickered a little. 

"Satoshi said that you would like to taste something first to see if I am good enough for you?" Nino asked and Sho nodded. 

"Yes. I am looking for a chef cook after all. And he should be good enough for that."

Nino nodded and grinned a bit. That was a fair point after all. He thought about it for a moment and frowned then. "I'm a bit confused, though," he said after a moment. Ohno always said he should open his restaurant. But right now it seemed as if he would just work for Ohno's friend and he didn't know if he wanted that. He tried to voice out his thoughts and Sho waved him off. 

"I am looking for a chef cook that's true. But I also want to make him co-owner if that's possible. I travel a lot and I need someone whom I can trust with the restaurant fully."

"Ah," Nino mumbled in understanding. That was better. "Then I would like to try cooking for you." 

Sho agreed readily and Ohno squeezed Nino's hand while Sho and Nino talked about a course meal and a date when Sho would come over to try everything. Ohno was sure that Nino would convince Sho with ease. 

xx

"Thank you for taking Kazu with you," Kazu's mother said to his own mother and bowed. Kazu was already sitting beside him in the car and played with a handheld game he got for his birthday two weeks ago. And Satoshi observed their mothers. Kazu's father had to cancel his planned vacation with his son because of sudden work coming up and Kazu had been rather upset to spend the time alone at home. 

Satoshi knew it was mostly because all of his friends were out of town for part of the vacations - just as Satoshi and his family were - and Kazu would have been the only one staying behind. It hurt to be the only one who couldn't talk about what great things he had done on his vacation. 

"It's no problem at all. The vacation home is big enough. We could take you as well," she offered again and the woman shook his head with a smile. 

"I have to work. But I'm glad that Kazu gets to go," she said and Satoshi smiled when he looked over to Kazu who hummed happily. They would drive to Okinawa and stay at a house near the ocean. It was a great place and Satoshi was happy to go there again. 

"Kazu, be nice," his mother said and bowed through the opened window. Kazu hummed and looked up to her. 

"Yep, I will be good and do whatever Toshi's mom says," he promised and she kissed his cheek. Kazu frowned a little - he was way too old for kisses from his mother now - but brightened up when she gave him two bentos, one for him and one for Satoshi. 

"Thank you!" Kazu hugged her tightly through the window and she laughed a little. 

"I will call you every evening," she promised. 

Kazu nodded before waving goodbye when Ohno's father started the car. 

"Won't you miss your mom, Kaz?" Satoshi asked. 

Kazu frowned. "It will be fun. Mom said so," he mumbled and hugged his bento box close to him. Satoshi shook his head at those words. He was sure that Kazu would get homesick soon. He had always been a mama-boy after all. And until now it had happened each time Kazu was away.

They played guessing games during the drive because Nino got slightly ill when he was concentrating on his handheld game while in the car. During the break they took, they ate the bentos filled with rolled omelettes, tiny hamburger, octopus sausages, fruits and cucumber salads. All favourites of Kazu who smiled a little sadly when he saw them. 

Satoshi robbed a bit closer to the smaller one and put an arm around him while eating with his other. "Your mom is the best cook I know," he declared and laughed when Kazu lit up at those words.

Of course, Kazu had a hard time sleeping at nights without his mother to put him to bed but Satoshi soon found out that Kazu would fall asleep quickly if they shared a bed. And because they were on vacation his parents didn't have any problems with that. 

Satoshi loved those cuddles with "his Kaz" and was already sad when he thought of going back home.

xx

Sho had liked the seasonal meal course Nino had cooked for him. Ohno had never doubted his lover - even if he got a little crazy when Nino had forced him to take a day off to buy all ingredients with him and double-check if everything was okay. Nino wanted to impress Sho, and he wanted to be perfect. 

So he had been nervous and asked Ohno all kinds of questions - questions Ohno couldn't answer. 

"To be honest you already convinced me that you were the perfect choice when I tasted your miso," Sho said after he had demolished the second caramel pudding Nino had prepared after their meal and they sat around the table with beers in their hands. 

Sho had been impressed that Nino had decided to prepare a common meal and not many small courses one after the other. Most cooks wanted to impress him with what they could do and made the difficult multi course style of kaiseki for him. It was nice of course, but it wasn't what he wanted for his restaurant. 

Nino had been the first who didn't seem to care for that. In fact, Nino had looked proudly defensive of his choice. Only thanks to Ohno's call the day before did he know that Nino had been nervous. 

"And here I thought you would be mad because I made something so simple," Nino mumbled and his shoulders sagged a little. So he had been nervous even until now. 

"I want a restaurant where families feel welcome. Where students will be reminded of home and old people feel comfortable," Sho explained. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but I didn't want to influence you. I need to see if we think the same. I wanted you to cook exactly what you would love to serve in your own restaurant."

Nino rubbed his face a bit bashfully and hid his laugh behind his hand. 

"It sounds like something Nino wants to achieve with his restaurant. At least that's what he always said: ‘I want a restaurant for everybody that is busy to relax and get comfort food'."

"Oh God! Oh-chan!" Nino moaned and hit him on the head while hiding his face behind both of his hands this time. That was so embarrassing. Those were things he told Ohno because he trusted Ohno with everything. It was not for everybody to know. 

"Sounds good to me." Nino didn't know if he should be more embarrassed or thankful that Sho just ignored his antics. It relaxed him a bit, though.

"So," Sho started and brought the bag he had carried with him when he entered their home. He took out some papers and Nino moved closer to them to look over them as well. Ohno stood to give them their privacy and took away the last plates before they got any dirt on the papers. 

Ohno left for the living room while Nino and Sho talked about the contract and the restaurant Sho had found. Ohno had visited it once after work and thought it was perfect. It needed a lot of work before that the kitchen would be usable for Nino and the other cooks. The guest room would need refurbishment so that it had the traditional chic Sho wanted for his restaurant. But Sho and Nino would be able to make it just like they wanted. 

\--

It was late when Nino had finally brought Sho to the door and let himself fall on top of Ohno - waking him up in the process - and nuzzled his collarbone. 

"Hey," Ohno mumbled and Nino kissed the warm skin under his lips. 

"Hey, yourself," Nino mumbled and rubbed his nose on the sweet smelling neck. 

"Finished your talk?"

"Yep, I will visit the restaurant the next occasion I can."

Ohno hummed and played with his hair while moving to a more comfortable position on the sofa. "Happy?"

"Very. Thank you Oh-chan," Nino whispered and moved up to kiss Ohno's lips. "Are you too tired to do anything?"

"Never." Nino laughed and kissed his lips. He had taken a little vacation for the rest of the week to be calm enough for today. And he already decided to bring in his resignation letter the next day. There was nothing to hold him back anymore and he was sure that Ohno was able to support them both for a while. Also, Sho would pay for all necessary things for now and Nino would pay him back until they both owned a share of the restaurant. 

Nino felt giddy when he thought about having a restaurant soon and kissed Ohno again. He nibbled on Ohno's lip and then looked into his eyes. 

"Bedroom, now," he decided and stood up to drag Ohno with him. Ohno went willingly and once they were in the safety of their bedroom, Nino kissed Ohno again lovingly. He was so thankful to have this man. Ohno always gave him the push he needed. 

Nino began to free Ohno of his clothes and kissed down his neck to his shoulder to nibble on it. His hands wandered down his back to cup at his butt. Then back to the front of stroke over the slight bulge there and wandered back up to play with his nipples until they hardened slightly and Ohno couldn't hide his moans anymore. 

Nino grinned victoriously and popped the button of the jeans free, opening the fly to push down the jeans and boxers fully. Ohno wriggled a little to help him and then yelped in surprise when Nino pushed him onto the bed without any warning. 

Nino looked at him with a sparkle in the eyes which brought a shudder over Ohno's back. He loved it when Nino had this predatory look on his face. It always meant that he was in for a treat. 

Nino kissed his lips when he was on top of Ohno once more and then wandered with his lips downwards. He took the time to taste each inch of Ohno's skin with his lips and tongue and relished in the little gasps and sounds of enjoyment of his lover. 

He nibbled at the prominent hip bone, licking his lips afterwards. He looked up at Ohno, whose eyes were glazed over, and stroke the prominent veins of Ohno's erection and then moved down to taste the first drops of pre-cum with his tongue. Ohno moaned louder and bucked his hips a little. Nino held his hips carefully but tightly and took Ohno's hard erection into his mouth inch for inch. 

When he had fit Ohno almost entirely in his mouth, he relaxed his throat and allowed Ohno a bit of space to move on his own. He licked, hummed and nibbled on the hot flesh while moving his head up and down, loving to hear Ohno moan and swear. 

"Kaz… fuck." Ohno moved his hips up when Nino looked up at him questioningly and moved his head back to play with his tip for a bit. His lips were stretched into a grin and his eyes sparkled teasingly as he moved onto him again. Ohno didn't know exactly what Nino was doing with his tongue, but it was heavenly. 

"Yes, please, more," he pleaded helplessly when Nino used one hand to play with his balls and the other to move on the lower part of his cock while his mouth worked on his tip and intensified his movements and sucking. 

Ohno burrowed his hand into Nino's hair when he felt himself getting even harder. Nino again relaxed his throat when he noticed the balls tightening, a sure sign that Ohno was about to come. Just a few sucks later he could taste the salty tang of Ohno's come on his tongue and swallowed most of it before cleaning his mouth on a handkerchief from their bedside table. 

Ohno was still gasping for air but it didn't take long for him to focus on Nino and tugging him up to press his mouth on Nino's for a gasping kiss. Ohno's hand moved down Nino's body to cup the hard cock of his lover and opened his trousers swiftly to pump his erection harshly. Nino moaned into the kiss and tried to get up, but Ohno had his head in a tight grip with the other hand and only allowed him so much movement as to fill his lungs with air again before he was back kissing Nino deeply. Finally, with a loud moan into Ohno's mouth, Nino came shuddering into his hand. 

Nino groaned when Ohno pecked his lips one more time. Then he collapsed, breathing heavily against Ohno's shoulder. Ohno stroked his back and then tugged at the blanket to cover them both. 

"We should take a shower," Nino mumbled sleepily and Ohno hummed as his fingers danced over his spine. 

"In the morning is early enough. Sleep now." Nino hummed a little and shortly after Ohno could hear a little snore coming from his lover. 

xx

Kazu stood beside Ohno's mother in the kitchen and frowned when he saw all the ingredients the woman had put out on the table for them. 

"What are we doing?" he asked curiously. Satoshi had been on a trip with his class for this last week and today he finally would be back. He had wanted to make something for him, so he had gone to the woman and asked her if there was something. 

"Salted caramel custard. Satoshi loves it and it is quite easy to make. So don't look so worried."

"Satoshi loves curry," Kazu pointed out and the woman laughed. 

"That might be true. But I am sure they had curry on his trip. And he probably bought some curry bread as well for the trip home. So no more for the next few days." Kazu hummed in understanding and frowned. 

"You really think I can do it? I'm pretty good at cutting vegetables. Mom says, I'm almost as good as my dad. And he teaches at the school." Kazu was quite proud of his skills. It was boring to cut vegetables and all that but he liked helping his mom. And it was better than cleaning his room. 

In cooking itself, he wasn't yet that interested, mostly because he wasn't interested in eating. But if it was for Satoshi he wanted to try at least. 

"I'm sure you can. Here is the recipe and I will help you if you have a hard time. So don't worry so much, Kazu. You should begin with the caramel sauce," she explained and he nodded. 

Kazu concentrated on the recipe in front of him and found it to be fun to make sure that he had the right amount of each ingredient. It was full of wonder that he looked into the pan and saw how the sugar melted and then got a nice brown colour. He panicked a little when it hardened after he put the cream into it, but before he could begin to cry Ohno's mother explained that it was normal and that he should just continue to stir. 

After he finished the whole mixture and poured them into ramekins to bake in the oven, he couldn't help himself but sit down in front of it and observe how the cream changed into the form of custard he knew. It was really interesting. 

"May I take one for my mother when we are finished?" he asked hopefully and Ohno-san agreed readily. 

"Yes, and one for Kazumi. You made enough for all, don't worry." Kazu grinned happily and jumped a little when the kitchen alarm rang. He wanted to open the oven and take the ramekins out when Ohno-san held him back swiftly. 

"Let me take them out. They are hot and the baking dish is heavy," she chided softly. Kazu stepped back while observing her taking the custard out. She carefully put each ramekin on the counter and closed the oven door again. 

"Now we have to let it cool down. They should be perfect for eating by the time Satoshi is here. Why don't you go home to get your sister and mom and I prepare some tea and coffee for us?"

"Sounds good. I will be back soon," he promised and left the house to force his mom and sister to come with him. They settled down in the kitchen and by the time the tea was ready Satoshi opened the front door. 

"Toshi is back!" Kazu cried happily and ran to the door to hug the older boy as tightly as he could. Satoshi was slightly taken aback but soon hugged Nino back while carefully manoeuvring them both to the kitchen where he could hear laughter. 

"I'm back," he announced and got a chorus of ‘welcome back' as an answer from the others. "It smells good in here," he observed and Kazu grinned up at him. 

"I made caramel custard for you," he explained happily when he saw that Satoshi looked delighted by that news. Perhaps making things for others could be nice. At least if the others were Satoshi, Kazu decided. 

"They have to be the best if Kaz made them especially for me. Let us sit and try them," he coaxed Kazu to let him go so that he could greet his mother with a kiss on the cheek and then sit beside the excited boy so that they all could try his first self-made dish.

xx

"I'm back," Ohno shouted and almost fell when he heard a ‘welcome home' from the direction of the kitchen. He hurriedly took off his shoes and cap and almost ran into said room. 

"You are home!" Ohno declared happily and Nino yelled in surprise when he got hugged from behind tightly. 

"Overreacting much?" Nino asked drily and put his hands on top of Ohno's when Ohno shook his head. 

"I think the last time I saw you for longer than ten minutes was three weeks ago," the older man whined and tugged his chin into Nino's shoulder who flinched a little. 

"It's not my fault. You knew it would be hard to do everything," Nino mumbled and Ohno sighed before he tugged him from the kitchen. Homemade food would be great, as he missed it dearly. But it would mean that Nino had to cook. And cooking meant that Ohno couldn't hold on to him as tightly as he wished for. So delivery it was today. Luckily Nino had put out all ingredients for Yakisoba already but hadn't begun cutting or cooking them. 

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Ohno said stubbornly and ignored Nino's attempt to get back to the kitchen. He knew that Nino cooked to relax and later he probably would feel bad about it but right now he didn't care. 

"Oh-chan, dammit, you are hurting me!" Nino said angrily when they finally landed on the sofa in a painful heap. 

"Sorry." Ohno looked up sheepishly before his eyes widened and his fingers ruffled through the short hair. "When did you cut your hair?"

"A week ago, I think." Nino sighed when Ohno's face fell and tilted his chin up to kiss his lips softly. "It will get better again, I promise. But the last days or weeks were stressful with working and being on the site to overlook the work." Ohno nodded and hugged Nino close to himself. He remembered how stressful it was to overlook the work in his little shop. And he hadn't been working at the same time. 

"But my contract will end by the end of this month. So two more weeks and then I don't have to work in the evenings anymore. I will make sure that I am home before you then," he promised softly and Ohno hummed a little. He didn't think that that would happen very often. Nino already fell in love with the restaurant and spent every free minute there. Especially right now since they were making the kitchen area and Nino was allowed to make it however he wanted. 

So, yeah, Nino was there often to make sure that the workers put the facilities how Nino had told them. It was cute even if a bit crazy. "Yeah, and I will probably have to taste all kind of dishes you are thinking up for your restaurant," Ohno moaned and Nino pushed him playfully. 

"Of course, only if you approve them are they worthy for others. I'm lucky you can eat everything, huh?" Nino said absentmindedly and Ohno sighed when he put his chin on Nino's shoulder again. 

\--

"You are thinking about other things again." Even if Nino and Ohno were in the same room Nino mostly thought about recipes and what to tell the workers or Sho. It was frustrating how little Nino thought of him these days. Nino winced when Ohno bit his earlobe carefully. 

"Sorry."

Ohno sighed and closed his eyes. He would be happy when life was back to normal. Some days he even regretted to make Nino do this. "I just miss you."

"I'm here now," Nino said and patted his thigh. "Come on let me up and go to the kitchen."

"No."

"But I need to prepare…"

"No!"

"Oh-chan I won't have the time to do it another day. The groceries will go bad and I won't stand for it."

"I will take them with me tomorrow and make some yakisoba pan. People like them."

"But I wanted to try out something new." 

"No, I don't want to let you go!" Ohno was aware he was whining. And he knew that he was getting on Nino's nerves. But when the younger man just sighed and settled back into his embrace he relaxed slightly. Ohno nosed Nino's ear. "You smell nice."

"Mhmm… Oh-chan you know we need to eat ne?" Nino tried again to stand up but Ohno shook his head. 

"We will order delivery and I will pay. Please, stop arguing with me about this. I don't want you to cook today. Even if it's just yakisoba. Not today."

Nino kept silent for a moment before he turned around in his arms and observed his face silently. Ohno felt helpless. He didn't know why he was so needy today. They were used to the little time together. But no time at all, was harder than Ohno had thought possible. 

"You win. But it has to be from that nice ramen place down the street," Nino mumbled and Ohno nodded. Everything to make Nino stay in his arms for the rest of the night. Nino moved forward and kissed the side of his mouth softly. The touch was barely there at all but Ohno felt as if he would weep in happiness right now. Nino stroke his face lovingly and kissed his nose. 

"And here people say I am needy. You big baby." Ohno shrugged and held on Nino just a bit tighter as the other laid down finally fully relaxing. He would order food later, Ohno decided and closed his eyes to just breath Nino in for the moment. 

xx

It was Valentine's Day and Nino really wanted to make some cake for Ohno. Ohno would stay late in school today for some art project but he would be home early in the evening. At least Ohno had promised him to come over. Their parents had gone on a little vacation together and since both of their sisters had moved away to attend university they had their homes for themselves. 

Being alone at home typically meant for Nino that he had a hard time falling asleep, so Ohno had promised to stay over.

Nino felt a tingle running up his body when he thought of Ohno and he closed his eyes for a little moment. Over the years his To-nii had become his Toshi and now his Oh-chan. It has not been easy to realise and accept that he had fallen in love with Ohno. But seeing Ohno flirting with others had hurt and, yeah, he got a bit obsessive about the other. His wet dreams had finally given the last hints about his infatuation to Ohno. 

So today he wanted to make the perfect cake for Ohno and tell him that he had fallen in love with him. He hoped Ohno wouldn't laugh at him but Ohno normally was really sweet to him, so he wasn't that afraid. 

Nino rechecked the recipe for the sticky-toffee-pudding and frowned. Ohno loved cakes and such things but Nino had never baked beforehand. And it was somehow more complicated than cooking. With cooking, he could change all recipes a little if he wanted and make them more to his taste. With baking, he had to weigh everything carefully and follow the recipe exactly. That was not easy, especially because he couldn't taste his creation until it was finished.

Before long the dough was in the ramekins he had borrowed from Ohno's mom and it was all in the oven. Now he had to wait. He set the kitchen timer and then hurriedly cleaned the mess he made. Baking was a lot messier than cooking, he realised. When he had cleaned the last bowl, he squatted in front of the oven door. 

He worried his lips between his teeth and played with the hem of his apron. He wasn't sure if the cake had to be that dark a brown. But it had been a dark batter as well, so he should be safe. He looked at the timer again and his eyes widened when he realised that it had stopped without ringing. He didn't know when that happened and carefully opened the door. He was scared what would greet him. 

A little hiss escaped his lips when the hot air hit his face because he had forgotten to turn it down and with fast movements, he turned the dials off. He pulled his baking tray out and his face fell when he realised that the cakes really were too dark now. The sauce wasn't there anymore as well. 

Tears sprang to his eyes and he was so preoccupied with his misery that he didn't realise that Ohno had come home and was now standing beside him. 

"What happened?" Ohno asked and turned him around. Nino looked to the floor and tried to stop crying. It was so silly to cry over the burnt cakes. But he had been so careful, had thought about how he wanted to tell Ohno everything, and now it was a complete disaster. 

"I burnt it," Nino cried. Ohno looked at him confused. Nino was normally not that emotional when something went wrong. "I hate baking! Everything is wrong now."

"What is wrong?" Ohno asked and tugged Nino to one of the chairs to sit down, looking into his crying face. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No… Yes… I don't know." Nino was frustrated and angry with himself. He rubbed at his wet eyes and tried to ignore the pain in his chest. He was so, so silly. Now Ohno would never say yes.

"Nino, I don't understand. You may have burnt the cakes but it's not the worst. It was just an accident. Hey, calm down. You are worrying me."

"But… But I had it all thought out. It was perfect. And now it is ruined. You will never…" Nino stopped talking suddenly and hid his face behind his hands. Ohno blinked in surprise and was even more confused when he realised that Nino's whole face must be red right now if his red ears told him anything. 

"What will I never?" Ohno asked and forced Nino to meet his eyes. He held his hands tightly and Nino sniffed a little. 

"Love me," he answered in a tiny voice. 

Ohno softly rubbed at his red cheeks with a thumb. "Because of the cake?"

Nino nodded looking as if he was about to cry again. "I… I wanted to make you a cake for today and tell you that I really really really like you and asks you if you want to be my Valentine and now it's all ruined." 

Ohno smiled at how cute the younger boy was and shook his head. "Silly Nino," he chided, carefully standing up. He pushed Nino on his seat and went over to get one of the puddings. They weren't that badly burned but Ohno was almost sure that they wouldn't taste well. Burnt caramel always tasted bad. But he took a spoon and tried a bite nonetheless. He would try everything Nino made and he would eat everything if it just made him happy, even if it tasted bad. 

"You are right. It's not good, but I will eat it if it makes you smile," he explained when Nino looked at him with wide, wondrous eyes. "And of course I would love to be your Valentine, Nino. Because I really really like you, too." He took another bite, slowly getting used to the bitter taste. 

Nino managed a smile at that and Ohno carefully tugged him on his lap again. He felt a bit bad for making Nino change places so often but he wanted to hold him tight. 

"Will you be my Valentine as well, Nino?" he asked against his ear and Nino giggled a little because Ohno's breath tickled. 

"Yes." 

And even with the salty taste of Nino's tears and the bitterness of the burnt cakes, the kiss they shared was the sweetest thing Ohno had ever tasted.

xx

"I can't do this Oh-chan. It was a horrible idea," Nino told him, walking up and down in front of the sofa where Ohno was sat on. Ohno watched him for a moment until he tugged him down. Nino went with a loud cry and Ohno gasped as Nino's elbow connected with his stomach. He knew it was his fault, so he tried not to wince. 

He had closed the door to the kitchen earlier after Nino had a mental breakdown while preparing their dinner and mumbling under his breath the dishes he would do for the grand opening tomorrow. He had been so concentrated on those thoughts that he threw down his freshly cut ginger and broke out into tears. Ohno had already called for Nino's favourite hamburger dish from a nearby restaurant and looked everywhere for the key to the kitchen so that Nino couldn't enter it again. 

Now, he just wanted to make sure that Nino ate, relaxed a bit and hopefully fell to sleep peacefully so that he could clean the kitchen and prepare everything for breakfast tomorrow. Of course, no cooked Japanese breakfast, but a couple of milk buns for them to share. 

"Of course you can. You already talked the dishes over with Sho, who approved them. You cooked them for us all and they were delicious and perfect. You showed the two under-cooks how to do them and had a great practice run yesterday. Nothing bad will happen tomorrow," Ohno mumbled and Nino worried his lip between his teeth. 

"But they say if the practice run is good the premier will go bad."

"That's for plays, not for restaurants," Ohno said and ruffled his hair. "You all could do this in your sleep."

"What if the oven breaks down?"

"Then you use the second one you have, remember?. And we will go over around lunch time, so there's enough time to check all things twice and for someone to come over to fix anything that might be broken."

"What if I forget the recipes?"

"You have printed them already. One copy is at the restaurant, one at my shop and one in your bag you will take with you tomorrow," Ohno said patiently and rubbed his back. 

"And if one of the cooks doesn't come?"

"You still can make it. Jun-kun could help, Aiba-chan and me as well."

"You will have an answer for all questions I might come up with, huh?" Nino asked with a small smile and Ohno cheered inside when he saw that. 

"Yup, and that will be our dinner," Ohno said when the doorbell rang and carefully untangled them to get the food. He put the boxes on the table together with the beer and cold tea he ordered - a disadvantage of closing the kitchen, they couldn't get drinks right now.

"I'm not hungry," Nino mumbled when Ohno sat down and Ohno rolled his eyes. 

"Of course you aren't. But you still have to eat," he explained and tugged Nino down to the floor. "Afterwards you'll take a relaxing bath with the bath salts I bought and I will put you to bed."

"Will you join me?" Nino looked up hopefully and then began to eat. He knew that Ohno wouldn't let him off without eating. 

"Of course." Nino beamed up at him and Ohno rolled his eyes amusedly. 

Just as he promised he took a bath with Nino (even if he really didn't like the bath salts Nino loved so much) and then put him to bed. He laid on top of the blanket after making sure that Nino was comfortable and stroke his back until Nino fell asleep. Afterwards, he vanished into the kitchen to clean everything up and to prepare the buns so that they could rise overnight in the fridge.

xx

"Let me go!" Ohno declared when Nino hugged him tightly from behind. They were currently making a chocolate and cherry cake for their parents. They would come back tomorrow from another vacation and after a year of being together, they decided to tell them officially now. Nino was a little bit nervous which Ohno thought was silly because he, for one, was sure their parents already knew about them. 

They probably had known they would end up together since they were little. But Nino wouldn't listen to Ohno at the moment and that was okay. 

"I want a kiss," Nino whined and Ohno rolled his eyes before kissing his nose. 

"Let me finish the batter and we can cuddle on the sofa until the timer rings," he chided and Nino pouted but thankfully let him go. "You can prepare the filling. The chocolate ganache shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

Nino rolled his eyes. They had tried to bake a few times since his first disastrous cake but Nino just didn't get it. Whenever Ohno didn't help him, all cakes or bread ended up burnt or flat. It wasn't making him happy and he decided to hate baking with a passion from now on. Luckily, Ohno loved baking, so he took over that part easily. 

The cake was in the oven and the ganache in the fridge to cool down again when Nino and Ohno went to the sofa in the living room and Nino almost immediately climbed on Ohno's lap to kiss him softly. Ohno hummed in the kiss and stroke his cheek lovingly.

"It's good that my mom and your parents take so many vacations together," Nino murmured thoughtfully. Ohno agreed softly. It gave them plenty of time to just them to get to know each other even better over this year. The changing from friends to lovers had been surprisingly easy and it was nice to have weekends just for themselves to take their relationship a step further each time. 

"Did you decide where you want to go after school is over?" Ohno asked and caressed Nino's cheek. Ohno had trained for the last few years at a nearby bakery. It wasn't the most modern place but Ohno liked it there and it had meant that he could stay at home and close to Nino and his family. 

"I want to go to a culinary school. Dad says that's the best shot if I want to be a professional chef and not only a helper. But there isn't one nearby and I don't want to go to the one he teaches in," he explained and Ohno hummed in understanding. 

"Then we'll have to move it seems," he said easily and Nino blinked in surprise. 

"But you… I thought you wanted to stay here forever."

"I wanted to stay close because of you, dummy. I don't mind moving if it's with you." Nino smiled brightly and kissed Ohno again. They wanted to take their kisses a bit further when the timer for the cake beeped and Nino sighed when he got off of Ohno's lap.

"Let's finish the cake," Ohno proposed. They went back and while Ohno put the cake to cool Nino finished the cream and cut the cherries so that they could use everything. By the time they finished with decorating the cake Nino was grumbling quite a lot. 

The icing bag he had wanted to use had almost exploded in his hands because the opening was somehow blocked, and even if he cleaned himself up right afterwards there was chocolate left on too many body parts of his own. 

"I hate baking," he declared again and Ohno chuckled. He tugged Nino closer, licking the cream on his cheek off and nibbling at his earlobe. 

"I can help you getting clean," he offered. Nino giggled when Ohno kissed him deeply. The taste of chocolate was very prominent on both of their tongues and Nino moaned a little when Ohno proceeded to lick the chocolate on his collarbones and nibbled on the delicate skin. 

Maybe baking wasn't so bad if Ohno helped him, Nino decided and let himself be led to Ohno's bedroom.

xx

The morning of the opening was hectic, just as Ohno had foreseen. Nino had woken up early and woke Ohno in return. Ohno grumbled a little but got up without complaining. After all, he was used to early mornings. 

Nino was still exiled from the kitchen, so Ohno prepared some green tea for him and then finished his milk buns. Luckily they only needed fifteen minutes in the oven, so he poured a cup of tea for them and went over to Nino who was staring nervously at the black screen of their television. He was paler than usual and leant against Ohno the moment Ohno sat down beside him. 

"I can't wait for this to be over. I was never this nervous before," Nino mumbled and Ohno chuckled softly.

"You are always oddly nervous whenever something important is about to happen," he countered, laughing when Nino huffed. It was true after all. Nino almost always got physically sick if there was anything important going on. Ohno remembered all the times before exams when Nino was like that. The worst was the final exam in culinary school. It had happened less over the last few years but Ohno wasn't surprised it was fully back today. 

"Do you really think I can do it? And please don't answer as my boyfriend."

"I always thought you could do anything if you set your mind to it," Ohno said earnestly. He kissed his temple and swayed them a bit. "You are a good cook. You can work under stress and you are excellent if it comes to trying to make everything perfect for others. I know, you whined a lot when people complained in your old restaurant but in the end, you tried to make people happy."

"You think too highly of me. I am unhappy if people don't like the original dish. If there are small changes it's okay. But I want them to approve of what they eat," Nino mumbled. Ohno giggled a little. Nino was probably right.

"The buns are ready. Let me up and I'll get them. Is marmalade okay?" 

Nino nodded and kissed him again, feeling calmer already. He scrolled through their online video recorder and settled for a programme about jellyfish. Nino might make fun of Ohno because of his love for fishing, but watching those jellyfish swimming through the ocean with the soft sounds of music and a soothing voice occasionally explaining something calmed him down.

\--

They arrived at the restaurant around twelve am and Ohno greeted Sho who was already waiting for them. Nino had luckily calmed down again. Ohno knew it would stay that way until he had finished all preparations for tonight's event. Nino was already so concentrated on what to do in which order that he only nodded at Sho shortly and then left the man to go straight to the kitchen. 

Sho looked after him in confusion and Ohno chuckled a little. "Let him be for the moment," he advised and looked around. "So what can I do to help you?"

"We need to clean the floor and the tables again and then set the tables." 

Ohno squeezed his shoulder (Sho was looking a bit squeamish himself) and did as he was told. It took almost three hours to prepare everything. Sho had greeted the other two chefs who were almost immediately called for by Nino when he caught them entering the restaurant. Ohno shook his head with a chuckle and left Sho around four to get something to eat from his shop. Jun and Aiba had agreed to do everything today alone and close early to help them. 

"Hello Oh-chan, everything okay?" Aiba asked while he packed the things Ohno had selected and looked at the coffee machine where he prepared the drinks for the others as well. 

"I think so. Nino is giving orders in the kitchen but he and the other two helpers sound quite cheerful so I guess it's okay. Sho-kun is going a bit crazy, though, he wants to help the service staff with setting the tables but he manages to crinkle most serviettes or spill water on the freshly decked out tablecloth. I think they might kill him or throw him out," Ohno explained, grinning.

"As long as he doesn't try to help out Nino in the kitchen," Jun commented as he came to the front. 

"I think Sho fears all the sharp things in the kitchen Nino could throw if he gets disturbed." Jun snorted a bit and Aiba shook his head, amused. 

"Do you have the time to approve of the congratulations cake for this evening?" Jun asked.

"Sure I can have a look at it. But I fully trust you with the design," Ohno mumbled and went to the back. 

The cake looked delicious. One-half was with a rich matcha cream that Nino loved a lot and the second half was a chocolate raspberry filling that Sho would die for. The decorations were on point with a short message of good wishes for their restaurant and Ohno smiled. 

"They'll be delighted," he promised and winked at Jun. They would bring the cake over after the opening had ended and only the staff would be left. Ohno was really glad that their shop was just two streets away so they could get it without anyone noticing. He left the bakery and was surprised to see Sho standing in the front. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked and Sho turned to him. 

"The others said that you would need help carrying all those things and told me to go. I think they don't want my help," Sho mumbled sadly. 

Ohno patted his shoulder with a smile. "I think they only want you to relax so that you can enjoy this day and not faint due to stress, Sho. You hired all these people to get the room ready and to serve the customers. They want to show you that they can do it. Come on, help me with those and then we sit in the back and you can practise your greeting with me."

"Do you think Nino will kill me if I make him come out after the meal?"

"Yup, but I also think you should. He is the co-owner after all and people will be curious as to who cooks for them from now on."

Sho grimaced at those words and Ohno winked at him. "I promise, I will hold him back if he tries to smother you. And besides, he probably will be too tired to move. So you are quite safe."

"If you say so," Sho mumbled and let himself be led back to the restaurant where they contributed the drinks, cakes and chocolates before Ohno dragged him to the office in the back.

xx

Ohno frowned when he realised that Nino was already up and heard the disgusting sounds coming from the bathroom. He waited until he could hear water running and then went to check on him. 

"Everything alright?" he asked worriedly and Nino waved him off. 

"Yeah. I'm not ill. Don't worry," he mumbled tiredly and Ohno remembered that Nino's big exam was today. It would mark the end of his apprenticeship so he shouldn't be surprised to see Nino like that. 

"Nervous?" First, it looked as if Nino wanted to deny but then he nodded and flopped down. 

"Terribly," he said and Ohno offered him a hand. He rubbed his back soothingly when Nino leant against him with a whine and kissed his forehead. 

"You don't have to. You will be great.Your teachers are pleased with your talents and all the restaurants you have been to were happy at your interest."

"Not helping," Nino moaned and Ohno chuckled. No words would help the younger right now probably. So he kissed his forehead again and then pushed him to the shower softly. 

"Shower, get dressed and I'll prepare breakfast for you."

"Not hungry. Just coffee is enough."

Ohno shook his head and looked at him sternly. "No coffee for your upset stomach and you need to eat. I'll make you some herbal tea and a light breakfast. No arguing allowed."

Nino grumbled a little but then left to take his shower. Ohno shook his head amusedly and went to prepare a light porridge and the promised tea before waiting for Nino to eat together.

After breakfast, they left for Nino's school and Ohno kissed him goodbye softly. "I will wait for you at home, okay?"

"Uhn."

"Don't worry. Just cook as you always do and you will pass with flying colours."

"Uhn." Ohno shook his head softly at Nino's answers and kissed him again before watching him entering the school. Ohno took a deep breath and went home to prepare the green tea souffle he wanted to make as a gift. 

\--

"I'm home!" Nino yelled as soon as he opened the door and Ohno grinned. He could already tell from the voice of Nino that everything had gone well. Nino stumbled into the kitchen with the certificate in his hands and a bright, happy grin. "Look, look! My teachers said I did extremely well," he said.

Ohno took the time to clean his hands carefully before taking the paper from Nino. He looked it over and then kissed him soundly on the lips. 

"I'm so proud of you," he said. 

Nino took the paper back. He looked it over again and was brimming with excitement. 

"I had to make some sour and sweet chicken dish. Sounds easy, ne? But it's hard because it has to be unique for such an exam with some surprising turn or something like that. I can't explain it well. But I did it!"

Ohno laughed and took the certificate from Nino to put it on the counter carefully before Nino could crush it in his excitement. "Sounds good. You have to make it for me sometime in the future," he asked and Nino agreed cheerfully. 

"What did you make? It smells good in here."

"Souffle and you are lucky. They are almost ready to eat. So why don't you go wash your hands and I take them out before they deflate."

"Okay." Nino disappeared and Ohno looked once again at the certificate. With this Nino would be able to choose wherever he wanted to work and gain experience.

When Nino came back they ate in silence before Ohno sighed a little. "I have something to tell you, actually." Nino perked up and looked at his serious face for a moment. 

"What is it?"

"I met Jun-kun a few days prior and he asked me if I would like to open a shop with him. I think it would be fun since the bakery I work for is about to close down. But it would put a strain on our finances," he explained carefully and Nino frowned a little. 

"I see…" Nino thought for a while but then he smiled and squeezed his hand softly. "But it's something you always wanted to have, ne? Your own place. If MatsuJun is with you, it would be easier, I can understand that. And besides, you helped me pay for school when mom died. And I think I will find a good paying job, ne? So let me support you when you fulfil your dream now."

"I haven't decided yet, Nino," Ohno reminded him and Nino shrugged.

"You don't have to. I just want you to know that." Ohno watched Nino for a moment and then cupped his cheek to kiss him softly. 

"Thanks, Kaz," he mumbled and Nino winked at him. He would never let Ohno down and if doing this would make Ohno as happy as Nino felt right now he would do so even more gladly. 

xx

"Good morning," Nino whispered into Ohno's ear and kissed it softly. Ohno grumbled a bit and rubbed his eyes when he got up.

"Good morning," he answered and looked at his alarm. Five minutes before four. He looked at Nino who was tired but happy and kissed him softly on the lips. "Long night?"

"Yup. We had a birthday at the restaurant. They booked half of the place and stayed very long," Nino mumbled and tugged at Ohno's hand to make him stand up. "Get ready; breakfast is almost finished." With those words, Nino was gone and Ohno chuckled a little before he got up to get dressed. 

He came into the kitchen and was treated to breakfast with miso soup, rice porridge and salted fish. "Looks delicious," he mumbled and sat down as Nino put some pickled vegetables in front of him as well as a big cup of coffee. Nino sat across from him, holding his tea with both hands and just breathing in the calming scent. 

"Thanks. I used the leftovers from yesterday and even put together a bento for you. So no excuse for not eating lunch," Nino told him, drinking a sip from his own soup and taking some vegetables. 

"Aren't you tired?" Ohno asked with a frown and Nino shrugged. The night had been long, yes, but it had also been lots of fun. Ohno smiled when he saw the sparkle in Nino's eyes and started his breakfast with a glance at the big clock at their wall. He would be late if he lingered too long on Nino's face instead of eating. 

They stayed silent for a while and Ohno thought about what had changed in the last few months. Nino still cooked for them almost daily and he still was terrible at baking. But Nino's nights weren't as long anymore. The restaurant closed around midnight at the latest and the kitchen at eleven, even, so that they had enough time to clean everything up and be home at around one. So Ohno seldom got treated to this, having breakfast while Nino had some dinner before going to bed. But Ohno now woke up next to his sleeping lover and that was nice, too. 

They had the same days off and Ohno often visited Nino in the kitchen or Nino came around the shop before heading for work. So it was good. 

"You have to go," Nino reminded him with an amused voice. Ohno blinked as he looked up. Nino stood in front of him with the bento in his hands and Ohno didn't know when Nino had moved at all.

Nino caressed his cheek softly and smoothed the frown on his face with his fingertips. "I'll see you in the evening," Nino said, kissing him softly on the lips. "Don't be late."

"Ah, you are right," Ohno mumbled and stood. He kissed Nino on the forehead and smiled. "See you this evening. Sleep tight." 

Nino giggled against his lips when they kissed again before pushing him to the door. "Now off with you before you are late because of me. I don't want to face MatsuJuns wrath," he chided and Ohno ducked down to kiss him again before giggling and running out of the door. 

Yes, they were happy. 

-Fin-


End file.
